Chair and tray combination



Dec. 5, 1950 J. E. HUBER 2,532,812

0mm AND TRAY COMBINATION Filed Sept. ,3, 1946 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jam: EHUBEJ;

Dec. 5, 1950 Y J. E. HUBER 2,532,812

CHAIR AND TRAY. CQMBINATION Filed Sept. 5,4946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 b. INVENTOR. JaH E. HUBER Dec. 5, 1950 J. a, HUBER CHAIR AND TRAY COMBINATION 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 3, 1946 INVEN TOR. JuHN EHUBEH Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHAIR AND TRAY COMBINATION John E. Huber, Cincinnati, Ohio Application September 3, 1946, Serial No. 694,497

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to chairs and more especially to childrens or infants chairs of a type which may be folded or collapsed, for purposes of portability. I

The invention embraces the provision of a chair in which the seat and back portions are relatively movable for purposes of collapsibility and the seat supporting means arranged to be quickly and readily detached to render the structure portable and one which may be encompassed in a small space.

An object of the invention is the provision of a chair construction particularly adapted for infants use which may be folded or collapsed to enhance the transportation of the chair especially for travel purposes.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of an infants chair in which the major constituents are fabricated of metal and of such construction as to secure rigidity and strength with a minimum of weight.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a chair especially adapted for infants use having a tray and tray support arranged to be readily removed and reassembled.

A further object of the invention resides in the construction of an infants chair having a tray support centrally disposed with respect to the seat portion independently of the chair arms and in which the tray may be adjusted relative to the support.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an infant's chair equipped with a foot rest mounted for adjustment in several different positions with respect to the seat portion in which adjustment is obtained without the manipulation of any securing members or the like.

A further object is the provision of a chair in which side arms are journaled for swinging movement upon means associated with the seat back and arms, the arms being removably connected to the seat portion by simple, yet effective, attachment means arranged to secure a rigid connection.

Still a further object of the invention resides in the provision of supporting legs for a chair which may be fabricated of thin walled tubing and in which reinforcing means are utilized at the points of securing the legs to the seat portion providing an exceptionally rigid connection yet one in which the legs may be quickly and easily removed from theseat.

Further objects and advantages are within the scope of this invention such as relate to the arrangement, operation and function of the related elements of the structure, to various details of construction and to combinations of parts, elements per se, and to economies of manufacture and numerous other features as will be apparent from a consideration of the specification and drawing of a form of the invention, which may be preferred, in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the chair of my invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the seat portion of the chair;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view illustrating the foot rest in one position of adjustment;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of the means connecting the tray support with the seat;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the seat and back portions of the chair, certain parts being shown in section;

Figure '7 is a perspective view illustrating a collapsed position of the seat back and side arm construction;

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 8-- B of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Figure 6;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially on the line I Ul 0 of Figure 6;

Figure 11 is vertical sectional view through the feeding tray and supporting construction;

Figure 12 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line l2-!2 of Figure 11, and

Figure 13 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line I3l3 of Figure 2.

While I have illustrated a form of my invention as embodied in an infants or childrens chair, it is to be understood that I contemplate the application of the principles of my invention to any construction or article forming an occupants support. 1

Referring to the drawings in detail, the chair construction illustrated is inclusive of a seat or seat portion II], a back portion H, side arms I and I 5- a foot rest I6 and a tray H. The seat H3 is provided with a uniplanar seating surface 2!! which is of substantially rectangular contour and is bounded by a depending peripheral skirt portion 2!. The seat is supported upon pairs of legs or supports 23 and 24. Each of the supporting legs is secured to the seat by independent means so that each support may be disengaged from the seat. In the illustrated embodiment,

each leg or support is fabricated of thin-walled metal tubing, as for example aluminum or thin gauge steel, to reduce the weight to a minimum. In order to provide a substantial area for the point of engagement of the tubes with the floor or other supporting surface the lower extremities of the tube may be provided with plugs placed into the lower end of each tube. The lower surface of the plugs '25 are preferably slightly convex to prevent damage to the linoleum or floor surface.

The upper ends of the tubes are secured. to the skirt portion of the seat through means ren 1' ing the tubes readily removable. As illustrated particularly in Figure 13, the upper extremity of each of the tubes is formed with, a longitudinally extending open ended slot 21 which accommodates a bolt 28. The bolt 28 is provided with knurled portion 29 which is pressed into an opening termed in a corner of the skirt portion 21. When thin-walled tubing is utilized for the supports 23 and 2 it is preferable to employ a reinforcing member .39 as shown in Figures LG and 13, of a diameter to slidably receive the upper extremity of the supporting tube. The reinforcing member 39 is provided with a transversely extending opening through whicl bolt 28 extends. The upper end of e: h re1ntorcement 3.33 is formed with a head .or a tree-ht 32 which serves as a means for determining the position of each supporting ice. A trough. shaped member 33 is adapted :to engage the exterior -perip.hery of .the upper extremity of tube or supporting leg to maintain each leg in pdsiticn in engagement with the skirt portion 2 i. As particularly illustrated in Figure 1c, the member 33 is preferably shaped to engage the exterior wall of the supporting leg in dual line contact indicated at 34 and 35, this t pe of engagement serving to align the member and supporting leg properly with respect to the skirt 2| of the seat ill. The end portion of the bolt 28 is threaded to receive a clamping means the form of wing nut 36.

In the illustrated embodiment, particularly .as shown in Figures 3 and .6, the forward portion of the skirt 2,! is of .a greater width thanthe rear portion. By this construction the pairs of iegs :23 and 2-4 may be made ofidentical lengths but the upper extremities of the legs 23 are spaced farther from the upper surface .of the seat 10 than the upper ends of the legs-24, which ar .rangement provides for a rearward and downward til-t to the seat portion 10. of the seat not only facilitates the comfort the occupant but tends to keep the occupant on the seat. As particularly shown in Figures ,1, .6 and '7, the skirt 2! of the seat portion is flared outward-1y at .an angle so that the lower extremities of the supporting legs 23 and 24 engage the floor or other supporting surface at widely shaped points to enhance the stability of the .chair :con- .struction.

The chair construction pf :my invention includes a back panel 3.9 which may be formed of metal, fiber, plastic or the like. The panel supported by means pivotally connected to the seat portion. To this end, the seat it is formed on its lower surface with pairs of spaced depending lugs or bosses Ml, each pair being bored with aligned openings to receive pivot pins or pintles AI. Disposed between the lugs .of each pair is a :member 4 provided with an opening at one extremity to receive the pin 41. As particulzuly shown in Figure 3, the members 44 are formed with arcuate portions 45, the curvature of which is generated about the axis of pins 4|. The uni planar portion of the scat ll) is formed with a pair of openings i6 to accommodate the arcuate portion 45 of the hinge members 44. The upper extremities of members 44 project into cylindrical fittings 48 and are secured therein by means of transversely extending pins 49. As will be apparent from an examination of Figure 3, the lower extremities of cylindrical members 38 are provided with head portions 50 which have canted lower surfaces adapted to fit or engage squarely .upon the uniplanar upper surface o the seat Iii. The head portions 55 of fittings 48 are preferably of a diameter to cover the open ings 46 in the .seat portion when the seat back is in a position of use as shown in Figure 3.

Each of the fittings or cylindrical members 46 is adapted to telescope with a tube or member 5!. Extendin into the upper portion of each tube 5i is a rod or journal pin .52. The upper portion of each rod .52 extends into the lower end of a second tube 54 as shown in Figure .6, the upper end .of the second tube being preferably closed by means of .a headed fitting or member 55.. The back panel .39 is secured .to these elements in the following manner. The screws 5.6 and .51 connect the panel 39 with the tube .51 the screws 5] also passing into threaded openings formed This :slan-ti-ng the journal pin or rod 52. Each tube 5 is socured to the back panel .by means of screws 58 and .53, the screws 58 passing into the threaded openings in the fittings .55 which serve to hold the latter in the tubes .54., the screws 59 passing through threaded openings in the upper portion .of the rods 52. In this manner the screws 5.? and 59 serve to secure each of the tubes 5i and .543 to the rods 52 as well as to the back panel 3-9.

The chair of my invention is provided with side arms and .61 which .are arranged for movement relative to the .seat and seat back and to be swung to .a position .out-of-.use. .Journally supported upon the rods .52 are T-shaped members 53 which are formed with projecting tenons which extend into the rear extremities of the tubular arms 50 and 6] and .are of a dimension to be pressed or otherwise secured in the arms.

Means are provided for remoyably connecting the arms to the seat port on as particularly shown in Figures 6 and .8. Fixed in the forward end portions of each of tubular arms 50 and 61 are transversely extending pins 51., each pin extending through the eye of .an eye .bolt 68, each bolt being threaded to accommodate a wing nut 69.. As illustrated particularly in Figures 7 .and 8, the seat portion is formed with semi-cylindrical ,recesses 19, each of which is adapted to accommodate the extremity of .a tubular side arm. Also formed in the skirt portion of the seat are slots 12 in communication with the semi-cylindrical recesses Hi to accommodate the eye bolts 68, As particularly shown in Figure 8 the interior side walls of the seat skirt portion .2! are formed with bo ses l3, eaclh'having a face or surface arranged at an an le .so that when the wing nuts .68 cooperating with eye bolts .68 are drawn up, the angular position of each eye bolt 58 is such as to exert a downwardly and inwardly directed force for obtainin a secure connection between each of the arms and the seat. The for ward extremities of the arms maybe disconnected from the seat .by manipulation of the win nuts 65 out of engagement with the bosses 13 after which the eye bolts 68 may be swung outwardly 2i.v to effect a release of the arms. The arms may be then swung about the axes of the pins 52 and rearwardly of the back panel 39 for collapsing purposes as hereinafter explained.

The chair is also provided with a feeding tray H which is supported centrally of the seat l and is made readily removable. As shown in Figures 1 and 11, a bolt 16 similar in construction to the bolts 28 projects through an opening in the forward skirt of the seat II]. A tubular support 1! for the tray is provided with an open ended slot 18 at its lower end which fits over the bolt 16 as shown in Figure 11. A clamping member 19 similar in configuration to the clamping members I3, cooperates with a wing nut 80 to secure the tray supporting tube 11 in a position-of-use. Mounted upon the upper end of the support or tube 11 is a fitting 82 havin a boss portion 83 which is bored to snugly receive the upper end of the tube 11, the tube being snugly pressed into the bore in the boss 83 to retain the parts in fixed relation.

The fittin 32 is formed with spaced parallel portions 85 having upwardly and outwardly flared surfaces 96 and flat upper surfaces 81, the surfaces 86 and 83'! forming ways for supporting the tray II. The lower surface of the tray I! is formed with dep nding projections 89 which straddle or embrace the angular walls 86 formed on the fitting 82, the members 85 and projections 89 serving to guide the tray and provide for a fore and aft adju tment thereof. Extending transversely of the fittin is a pin 90 and formed beneath the central portion of the pin is a recess 9! adapted to accommodate a latching pawl or tray retaining means 92 as particularly shown in Figure 11. The pawl 92 has a portion 93 adapted to lie in the path of a plurality of teeth M of a rack formation formed upon the lower surface of the tray IT. The latching pawl 92 is normally urged into engagement with the teeth 94 under the influence of a. coil spring 95 fitting in a depression 96 formed in the fitting. The pawl 92 is formed with a depending trigger portion 9! for manipulating the pawl to release the same from engagement with the teeth 94, As particularly shown in Figure 11 the teeth 94 are preferably formed of a ratchet-type configuration so that the tray I! may be moved in a direct on toward the chair without manipulating the pawl 92. By this arrangement an infant or occupant of the chair cannot move the trai forwardly of the chair by exerting force on the tray without releasing the pawl. hence providing additional safety for the infant occupying the chair. Bv manipulating the tri ger portion 3! of the latching pawl 92, the latter may be pivoted around the axis of the pin 90 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 11 to effect a release of the pawl proiection 93 from the teeth 94 so as to enable the tray IT to be moved forwardly with respect to the chair. The tray may be completely disconnected from the supporting fitting 82 by forward movement away from the chair. If it is desired to completely remove the tray and its supporting tube 11 from the chair it is only necessary to manipulate the wing nut 80 releasing the clamp 19 from engagement with the tube 11, after which the tube may be elevated out-ofh enga ement with the bolt 16. a

It may, sometimes, be desirable to remove the tray I! from the fitting 82 andp'lace the same upon a supporting table or other surface. In order to maintain the tray in a stable position upon such surface there is provided a plurality of projections or legs-100 integrally cast or formed below the lower terminae of projections 89 so that the projections will not engage a uniplanar support upon which the tray may be placed.

An adjustable foot rest means It is provided to facilitate the comfort of an infant. The seat I0 is formed with pairs of projections or lugs I02, I03, each pair being provided with a pin H15 passing through aligned openings formed in each pair of projections. Disposed between each pair of projections or lugs is a member I06 formed at its lower extremity with an L-shaped configuration to accommodate plates'lfl'l and I08 providing supports for the'infants feet. .Each of the mem-' bers I06 are of'identical construction and are configurated intermediate their ends with a plurality of recesses or depressions I89, the members being arranged to be selectively moved into cooperative relation with the pins H15 for adjusting the foot rest to several different positions. Each of the members Hit is formed with an armate or curved upper surface I ID, the curvature of which and its relation to the axis of pin 505 and to the recesses I09 being of such that when the members I06 are shifted to move different pairs of recesses I09 into engagement with pins H35, a different portion of the arcuate surface i!!! is caused to engage the lower surface of the seat portion Ill. The lower surface of the seat cooperates with the arcuate surfaces I it as a limiting means therefor to determine the several positions of the foot rest depending upon the selected pairs of recesses H39 in engagement with the pins I05. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, there are four recesses in each of the members Hi5 which provides for four independent positions for the foot rest Hi. The forward skirt portion of the seat It! is provided with slots I I2 arranged to accommodate members I66 when the latter are moved to an upper-most position as shown in Figure 4. It is to be understood that other positions of the foot rest maybe had or more or less positions of adjustment may be obtained by changing the number or dimension of the recesses H19 in members Hit.

The chair of my invention is especially constructed and arranged to be folded or collapsed to occupy a small space so that the same may be readily transported or rendered portable. When it is desirable to prepare the chair construction for purposes of portability, each of the legs 23 and 24 is disengaged from the seat portion simply by partially backing off the'wing'nuts 36 after which the legs may be withdrawn from engagement'with the bolts 28 and the fittings 3!). The tray H and tray supporting tube ll may be removed by partially backing off the wing nut and elevating the tube ll out of engagement with the bolt 16, clamping member 59 and fitting 3!. The side arms 611 and 6! are then disenga ed from the recesses If! by partially backing off the nuts 69 and swinging the eye bolts 68 out of engagement with the bosses 13. After this disengagement is effected, the side arms 60 and 5! may be swung rearwardly around the axes of the pins or journals 52 and rearwardly of the seat back panel 39. The seat back panel 39 may then be swung into parallelism with the seat iii, the seat back panel and side arm construction being shown in folded position in Figure '7. By this means, it will be observed that the construction in disassembly may be reduced to small dimension so as to occupy a comparatively small space during transportation of the chair.,,Thus I have pro- 10 REFERENCES CITED Number Name Date The following references are of record in the 1231917 Lattlg July 3, 1917 fi of t t 1, 09, 43 Thomas July 8, 1919 1,426,140 Anselm Apr. 15, 1922 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,683,532 DeI'WiSh Sept. 4, 1928 Number Name Date 1,744,243 Pludowski Jan. 21, 1930 144,533 Gratz Nov. 11, 1873 1,800,668 Shaver -1 Apr. 14, 1931 518,070 Morfoot Apr. 10, 1894 1,96 ,216 Sargent June 26, 1934 659,933 Marks Oct. 16, 1900 ,050,667 Moreland Aug. 11, 1936 890,705 Pilia et a1 June 16, 1903 10 2,382, 53 Baxter Aug. 21, 1945 1,008,037 Johnson Nov, 7, 1911 2,383,12 Howe Aug. 21, 1945 1,228,618 Thum June 5, 1917 2, 0,22 North Apr. 20, 1948 

